Anxiety over electoral system grows; most think court will be fair

Published: Monday, December 11, 2000

WILL LESTERAssociated Press Writer

WASHINGTON {AP} -- Americans are almost evenly divided over whether manual recounts of Florida votes should continue, new polls suggest as the U.S. Supreme Court again considers the disputed presidential election.

By The Associated Press

Some results from new polls on the unsettled presidential election taken over the weekend. When results don't total 100 percent, the remainder either didn't know or refused to answer.

CNN-USA TODAY-GALLUP

After the U.S. Supreme Court holds its hearing on the unsettled election, what do you think it should do, should it allow manual recount of votes to continue or not?

Should allow, 47 percent

Should not, 49 percent

(Nine of 10 Gore supporters say continue)

Do you think the U.S. Supreme Court will be fair or unfair in deciding this case?

Fair, 72 percent

Unfair, 17 percent

(Gore backers said the court would be fair by a 54-31 margin, while nine of 10 Bush backers felt that way.)

As of today, do you think Al Gore should concede the election or should he not concede?

Should concede, 53 percent

Should not concede, 43 percent

If the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Al Gore should he concede or should he not concede?

Should concede, 61 percent

Should not concede, 35 percent

(Gore supporters say he should concede by 56-40)

Would you approve or disapprove of the Florida Legislature voting to select Bush's slate of 25 electors from that state?

Approve, 48 percent

Disapprove, 42 percent

If it comes down to these four, which of the following would you most trust to make the final decision on the selection of the next president?

Polls taken over the weekend indicate the public, by at least a 2-1 margin, has faith in the U.S. Supreme Court to fairly decide the issue. But they are less confident in the Florida Legislature or Congress deciding the matter.

The polls by NBC News-Wall Street Journal, CNN-USA Today-Gallup and ABC News-Washington Post were generally consistent in their findings about those questions and others.

People were more likely to think a victory for Republican George W. Bush would be legitimate than to think an Al Gore victory would be.

The percentage who see a Gore victory as legitimate has hovered at about half the public, however.

Nearly half of Americans 49 percent think there are serious flaws in the nation's system of electing a president, according to the ABC-Post poll. That's up from about a third of those polled a month ago.

Fifty percent of Democrats, 43 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of independents polled say there are considerable problems.

Bush has appealed to the high court to overturn a decision by the Florida Supreme Court allowing manual recounts to continue in the disputed presidential election.

Gore had sought the completion of the recounting he believes could alter the outcome of the Florida election, where Bush is currently ahead by less than 200 votes out of 6 million cast.

The Gallup poll indicated that about three-fourths of Americans think the high court will be fair. Asked which institution they most trust to decide the case, a majority, 61 percent, said the U.S. Supreme Court, 17 percent said Congress, 9 percent said the Supreme Court of Florida and 7 percent said the Florida Legislature.

In the ABC-Post poll, 53 percent said the hand recount should go forward after Monday's U.S. Supreme Court hearing, compared with 43 percent who said it should stop. Similar numbers 51 to 48 percent disagreed with the high court's ruling on Saturday that stopped the Florida count.

Still, 66 percent were confident the high court would make a fair ruling, compared with 32 percent who said they were not.

Also, 54 percent said they disapproved of Congress attempting to determine the winner of the election in Florida, compared with 40 percent approving; and 62 percent disapproved of the Florida Legislature attempting to resolve the election, compared with 33 percent approving.

But in the Gallup poll, almost half of the respondents approved of the Florida Legislature picking a slate of 25 electors for George W. Bush, while four in 10 disapproved.

That poll also found that almost half, 46 percent, think the unsettled election is a major problem, but only 17 percent think it is a constitutional crisis.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll of 605 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of 4 percentage points. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 735 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of 4 percentage points. The NBC-Journal poll of 1,048 adults was taken Friday and Saturday and has an error margin of 3 percentage points.